8 replies to this topic

[infinart]

Hi,

 

  I have 8 sites. 5 of them are for the same business but different branches. eg. Wedding dresses, plus size dresses, cocktail dresses... Each are for the same business. Currently i have most of the sites on different servers.

    Ideally I want them all on the same server. But, I was told a while back that having them all on the same server is not a good idea because Google doesn't like a business having more than one website.

    I am wondering two things. 1. Is the above statement true? 2. If I get one server and put a dedicated ip on each domain would that act like it is different servers?

    Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

[Jill]

As long as you're selling different things on the different sites, google doesn't care. They can even be on the same ip. It's only if you are trying to trick google that you don't want to be on the same server. 

[infinart]

Thank you Jill.  I need a bit more information before I feel confident on this.

 

Here are the examples of sites I have:

 

 

 plus size women 

 wedding dresses gowns 

 mother of the bride dress 

 

And I want to make dressmaking and fabric sites too.

 

I have no intention to trick Google rather I am trying to promote to specific market types.

 

I have adwords pointing to each of the above, on the same account, and there has been no issue. So I guess this is a good sign.

 

I just need to be certain that I won't be penalised for having each site on the same host.

 

Are you able to supply a bit more data?

Edited by Jill, 30 January 2013 - 01:24 PM.
removed websites

[torka]

Well, if you don't trust Jill's years of experience working with thousands of websites, I'm not sure what additional information anyone else can offer that will convince you, but here goes...

 

The company I work for has more than one website (and in addition, our main website is made up of multiple domains). One domain included in the main site is our online store, which includes information on all our products. We also have three product-specific "mini sites" that give more detail about some of our products. Although each of the three detail sites contain information about products that are also included in the online store, there isn't any duplicate content between any of these sites. (While there are only three product "mini sites" today, we have in the past had as many as five product detail sites active at one time. With no issues noted.)

 

All our sites are are hosted on the same server. In fact, all three of these mini sites share the same IP address with one of the domains that make up our main site. The main site has been in place for over 10 years. The first of the detail product sites went up in 2004. And we have had no issues at all with Google at any time.

 

Edited to add: I should also note that we freely interlink among all our sites -- mini sites and main site / among the different domains that make up the main site. We're very up-front about the fact that these sites are ours and that we're not trying to hide anything from anybody.

 

My

 

--Torka

Edited by torka, 30 January 2013 - 09:55 AM.

[piskie]

Matt Cutts once said that shared hosting with the same IP has no negative effect as far as the Google Algo is concerned. However he did add that any cross site jiggerypokery (My words) would be discovered more quicly because they were cohabiting.

[Jill]

I stand by my original post.

 

Although, I have to say that if I were you, I'd instead make one great site that has all the different categories within it. That would be much easier for you to create and promote, plus it will show that you're a larger entity and be a heck of a lot easier to brand.

[infinart]

Thank you for your advice. It feels like I have found a helpful group of people here.

 

Looks like it is fine then. Which is great news.

 

We have a main site which covers each of the categories. In my years of marketing I have found it easier to pitch one service or product rather than a group of them. This communicates to the person only what they are searching for and without a lot of irrelevent links. eg. They land on [removed] and it is only about wedding dresses. But, if they land on [removed] they get a mix of things inc. racewear, cocktail dresses, videos about fabric... which are not pertenant to their search.
I have found since seperating the sites that the traffic we get on the phone and through the shop doors are much more qualified and educated than they were before.

One thing I haven't done is link the sites. I don't have any links going from one to the other. Should I do this?

 

I like your inveted word piskie "jiggerypokery" but what does it mean? Can you explain what Goolge would consider jiggerypokery?

 

Thanks guys.

Edited by Jill, 30 January 2013 - 10:30 PM.
Removed websites as per forum rules

[torka]

I would only link among the sites it if makes sense to do so. In our case, all our products are fairly closely related, and it's possible that someone who starts off looking for one product might in the end decide they actually prefer another one. And all of our products are sold through a single store, with one shopping cart. Our product detail sites offer additional information, but link back to the main store's shopping cart for the actual purchase.

 

In your case, while the products might seem quite unrelated at first, there may be some relationships you're missing. For instance, is it possible that somebody who's looking for a wedding dress might also need a cocktail dress or two to wear to an engagement party or while on her honeymoon?

 

Whether it makes sense to link the sites -- and exactly how to go about that linking -- depends on the content you have, the intent and desires of your audience and the potential relationships among your products. There's no one hard-and-fast answer. You should test. It's possible that linking among products would confuse your customers. It's also possible that you're leaving sales on the table because customers who might have bought additional products from you aren't aware you actually sell them.

 

My

 

--Torka

[infinart]

Makes sence Torka thanks.

 

It would be very unusual for them to buy a cocktail dress as well as a wedding dress so I will keep them not linked.

 

However, I was thinking about putting a link in the footer to the main site which might be good for SEO reasons. I wanted to make sure that there is nothing wrong with having the seperate sites in my case first.